Who Will Own TikTok in the US and Why it Matters for Democracy

Despite the TikTok sale-or-ban law coming into force the day before United States President Donald Trump’s inauguration this past January, TikTok remains available to US users. Trump’s stated justification for the delayed enforcement of the law was “so that we can make a deal to protect our national security.” This deal, whereby ByteDance would divest TikTok’s US operations to non-Chinese ownership, has been taking shape ever since, with snippets of information released to the public over the months.

Various investors are reportedly under consideration or in preliminary agreement to purchase the US operations of TikTok. While other suitors, including Amazon, have also expressed interest, a consortium of investors, including Oracle, seems most likely to prevail. Recent reports have also highlighted private equity firm Silver Lake and the Emirati tech fund MGX as key players; earlier reporting mentioned the venture capital fund Andreessen Horowitz and private equity firm Blackstone, and Trump has also mentioned the possible involvement of Rupert Murdoch, Lachlan Murdoch and Michael Dell. ByteDance and its current investors may also acquire shares in the new entity.